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Boy, that interview is not selling me on Bitcoin. First Saylor equates Bitcoin with the greatest technological innovations such as the automobile. The problem with that analysis is that the technology behind Bitcoin--blockchain--is not the same as Bitcoin itself just as the technology behind the automobile is not the same as the automobile manufacturing companies that produced automobiles. What he fails to recognize is that scores of auto manufacturers went out of business along the way in the development of the automobile--https://stacker.com/stories/5360/50-car-companies-no-longer-exist The automobile as a technology triumphed, but many car companies producing automobiles did not. Blockchain as a technology is interesting and has many potential applications outside of libertarian energy wasting fictitious currency. There is no reason to assume that Bitcoin will be the best example of that technology. And the idea that Bitcoin "offers the hope of a decent life to 8 billion people" is absurd. This is a market that rich--and I should add Caucasian guys like Saylor and Asian guys in China--are cornering and controlling without any regulatory oversight. The idea that they will provide a better more energy efficient digital currency than ordinary digital currency to 8 billion people is nonsense. Also, the idea that BItcoin miners are only using clean energy is a lie: https://smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/bitcoin-s-dirty-little-secret-it-s-not-easy-being-green-20210506-p57pki.html
@LewisBraham That is an excellent analogy... automobiles. I have to find the video...where Saylor says almost the exact same thing...to explain why he is pro Bitcoin and not pro Ether or Ripple or Doge etc. Re: the 8B people... I think we was referring to the fact that if countries adopted it would benefit 8B. Also, you bring up “ordinary digital currency” and I know what you mean by this as you have mentioned this before. You may be 100 percent right. It’s just that Saylor and Bitcoin folks think that Bitcoin is exactly or will become the “ordinary” stuff you are referring to.
He acknowledged the energy issue and never said that they are only using clean energy. Never said that. What he did say is that miners will move their operations to the most energy efficient and or cost effective places. This is already occurring. See Iceland geothermal.
Edit Add: The smh story you provided above mentions the renewables “Roberts is not only convinced of the utility of bitcoin as a commodity and secure store of wealth, he believes its rapid spread is in fact good for efforts to tackle climate change. Iris’s business model involves establishing its computer firepower in energy markets where there is a surplus of renewable energy.” <- Exactly what Saylor was saying.
Saylor made the point (something I don’t fully understand) that the importance of mining is quickly declining as they reach the max threshold. So the environmental concerns may soon become a moot point. While critics can argue that it still requires a lot of energy to verify the blockchain... any digital currency will require lots of energy to process and verify transactions.
Good discussion and appreciate a different viewpoint. Still learning. My Bitcoin exposure is tiny at the moment.
The Dutch economist and academic Alex de Vries, founder of the blog digiconomist, challenges the notion that bitcoin miners can in the long run profit and support renewable energy expansion.
He argues that as more computer power is applied to mining, miners need to compete with one another to maintain profitability and that this is a powerful disincentive to take computers offline when energy prices are high.
The very notion of millions of computers around the world spouting random numbers at one another to create a speculative commodity is not only absurd but tragic, he told the Herald and the Age.
De Vries likened the exercise to the practice of European airlines flying empty aircraft from airport to airport early in the pandemic so that they did not lose their coveted airport landing slots. “It served a purpose, but it was still a waste of resources.”
Use the volatility to your favor? Cathie Wood et al seem to think so… including forecasts of BTC at 100k and 500k in the future hmmm. There’s a lot of people vested in it- will they stand idly by and let it be regulated into nonexistence? Can it be?
Wood may be on a mission from God to find the best tech investments, but even God can't stop China, which controls the cryptocurrency market, from regulating it out of existence if need be. If the U.S. government piles on, I would think it's done.
It's interesting to hear Mr. Rubenstein's opinion regarding cryptocurrencies. I don't necessarily share the same enthusiasm, but enjoy watching "The David Rubenstein Show". Link
Interesting take on the drop in value of Bitcoin / Crypto - currencies :
Not much moves cryptocurrency markets like Elon Musk tweets -- except, perhaps, the idea of another crackdown in China, the world’s second-largest economy. From a trading ban on domestic exchanges to squeezes on power-consuming digital currency miners, Chinese regulators have tried to tamp down risks related to the stratospheric rise of Bitcoin and its peers for years. Yet a recent flurry of official reminders has traders nervous about more possibly to come as President Xi Jinping seeks to reduce financial risk in the economy and meet the country’s ambitious goals for combating climate change.
Comments
He acknowledged the energy issue and never said that they are only using clean energy. Never said that. What he did say is that miners will move their operations to the most energy efficient and or cost effective places. This is already occurring. See Iceland geothermal.
Edit Add: The smh story you provided above mentions the renewables “Roberts is not only convinced of the utility of bitcoin as a commodity and secure store of wealth, he believes its rapid spread is in fact good for efforts to tackle climate change. Iris’s business model involves establishing its computer firepower in energy markets where there is a surplus of renewable energy.” <- Exactly what Saylor was saying.
Saylor made the point (something I don’t fully understand) that the importance of mining is quickly declining as they reach the max threshold. So the environmental concerns may soon become a moot point. While critics can argue that it still requires a lot of energy to verify the blockchain... any digital currency will require lots of energy to process and verify transactions.
Good discussion and appreciate a different viewpoint. Still learning. My Bitcoin exposure is tiny at the moment.
Timely given our discussion above: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/elon-musk-says-tesla-will-stop-accepting-bitcoin-for-car-purchases.html
Saylor? He's buying the dip.
Cuban? He's staying with bitcoin: https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1392611938983632896
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/23/17384608/marshall-islands-cryptocurrency-us-dollar-usd-currency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands
.....Charlie Munger is not pleased, eh?
...And, since I mentioned him: an utterly remarkable life!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Munger
bitcoin to 250k in 12 months???
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-at-250-000-in-a-year-this-rocket-fuel-will-help-it-get-there-says-former-goldman-sachs-alum-11621336229
to the moon we go??
or to the grave we go??
we will wait and see
Bitcoins overview schwab investment
Likely speculative investments/severely high volatility and may not do well ??? Long term
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-will-launch-a-broad-discussion-of-a-digital-dollar-this-summer-powell-says-11621534045?mod=home-page
Use the volatility to your favor? Cathie Wood et al seem to think so… including forecasts of BTC at 100k and 500k in the future hmmm. There’s a lot of people vested in it- will they stand idly by and let it be regulated into nonexistence? Can it be?
Then there’s Jack Dorsey with the “Bitcoin can make the world greener post”: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2021/05/jack-dorsey-says-bitcoin-is-climate-friendly-is-he-right.html
A lot of smart people on both sides of this discussion.
I don't necessarily share the same enthusiasm, but enjoy watching "The David Rubenstein Show".
Link